Fabiano Pinheiro , otherwise known as Instructor Sabiá, was born in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, and has been an enthusiast of martial arts since childhood. Mr. Pinheiro started his Capoeira training with Mestre Jelon Vieira at the age of nine with Grupo Capoeira Brasil in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Since he has been living in New York City, Mr. Pinheiro has participated in a television commercial for Subway Sandwiches and in the Capoeira documentary "The Evolution of the Art Capoeira in the World" by the New York Film Academy also perform at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington DC and at the Lowell Folk Festival in Massachusetts.

As a Capoeira instructor he has developed various workshops for Bard College of Education and currently holds Capoeira classes at the YMCA in Flushing-Queens at Bank Street College of Education and at KIPP AMP Charter School; all capoeira class sites are for all ages. He also works in collaboration with The Capoeira Foundation and The Capoeira Center of New York helping introduce and maintain Capoeira throughout communities in New York City. Instructor Sabiá is also an assistant for Instructor Tiba at the Alvin Ailey Extension of New York City.

Mestre Jelon Vieira founder of Capoeira Luanda, a world renowned master and teacher of capoeira. Born in Santo Amaro da Purificação, Bahia, Brazil, in 1953. Started training Capoeira Angola at the age of 10 years old with Mestre Emerito and later on continuing with Mestre Bobô. In 1969 he met Mestre Eziquiel with who he studied Capoeira Regional and had the honor to enjoy classes at Mestre Bimba's academy.

Since his arrival in the US in 1975, Mr. Vieira has catalyzed the growing interest in and understanding of Brazilian culture while simultaneously developing and teaching Capoeira. Mr. Vieira teaches capoeira to people of all ages and from all walks of life in both Brazil and the United States. He has taught the soccer great Pele and American movie stars Wesley Snipes and Eddie Murphy. And worked in movies with Brooke Shields, Timothy Dalton, and the directors Robert Wise and Robert Miller. Although he resides in New York, Mr. Vieira spends several months a year in Brazil. One of his long term goals is to open a center for underprivileged children, using capoeira to build self esteem and self-discipline and to begin moving these children off the streets and into the educational system and mainstream society. Mr. Vieira and Loremil Machado are the pioneer of Capoeira in the United States.

Mr. Vieira has taught in many residency workshops and has been a guest instructor at Yale University's African-American Studies Department for 12 years with Dr. Robert Ferris Thompson. He has also taught at many other universities and colleges including University of Pennsylvania, Denison University, Oberlin College, Columbia University, New York Yniversity, Stanford University, Duke University, University of Nebraska, University of Miami among others. In 2000 he was a guest as Eminent Scholar at Florida University, in Gainesville, FL for a semester.

In 1993, after a decade of collaboration between Tha Capoeira Foundation and the Carver Cultural Community Center, Mr. Vieira and Carver Center Director Jo Long decided to create Ilê Bahia de San Antonio, the House of African-Brazilian Arts. The organization was incorporated in 1993 to establish a professional level instruction and training center in the African-Brazilian performing arts. Special emphasis is placed on training at-risk, minority youth in a positive and culturally affirming activity.